Sunshine Canyon Landfill

* Norah Schumacher’s Valley Perspective piece (“Dump Plan Threatens Area Water,” July 7) rehashes the numerous inaccuracies and misrepresentations concerning Sunshine Canyon Landfill that have been rejected by every local, regional, state and federal agency that has reviewed this landfill project.

Suffice it to say that independent and comprehensive analyses by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, State Department of Water Resources and experts who wrote the book on landfill safety for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have all shown that the landfill liner design is safe.

Schumacher says “state water control agencies rely too heavily on self-serving information provided by the dump’s owner, BFI.” This statement completely ignores the fact that the only “study” which has ever indicated that the landfill might not be safe is a report paid for by BFI’s major competitor, WMX Technologies Inc. It must be noted that WMX stands to gain hundreds of millions of dollars if Sunshine Canyon does not open. Talk about self-serving information!

Perhaps most disturbing is Schumacher’s attempt to sweep under the rug the fact that WMX paid over $60,000 directly to the authors of this so-called study, and attempted to hide their role by allowing the North Valley Coalition to represent it as their own independent report. Apparently, many public officials disagree with Schumacher’s opinion that there is nothing unethical or improper about not disclosing who pays for studies and other lobbying material. The city of Los Angeles and the state Legislature are considering proposals to close this loophole in their respective ethics laws as a direct result of WMX’S activities. BFI fully supports these legislative attempts to improve ethics reporting laws.

Sunshine Canyon Landfill will benefit all Los Angeles County taxpayers with an environmentally sound and lower-cost waste disposal facility. In the months ahead, BFI will prove that this needed project will be operated responsibly and safely.

ARNIE S. BERGHOFF

Berghoff is Southern California director of government and community affairs for Browning-Ferris Industries